Full terror of Commons raid

The scenes of chaos and panic when hunt protesters invaded the House of Commons were described to a court this afternoon.

Commons doorkeeper Daniel Scanlon said: "I thought it was some sort of terror attack." He told the court that the gang of five pro-hunt campaigners had created "chaos and panic" as a fight erupted in the chamber. "It was bedlam."

Mr Scanlon said he was kicked by one of the protesters even though they were claiming to be carrying out a peaceful demonstration.

The Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons, Sylvia Heal, described the protest as an unprecedented breach of security. She was forced to suspend the sitting when the men stormed the chamber in September last year.

The witnesses were giving evidence at Bow St magistrates' court where Otis Ferry, the son of pop star Bryan Ferry, and seven other pro-hunting campaigners are standing trial. The eight protesters have pleaded not guilty to disorderly behaviour causing harassment, alarm and distress.

Mrs Heal said that although she could see the T-shirt clad demonstrators had no weapons in their hands, she feared they might be carrying arms in their pockets or wrapped around their bodies. She also feared that the Commons invasion was merely a distraction from what could have been a greater incident elsewhere in the Palace of Westminster.

Mrs Heal told the court that the first she knew of the impending invasion was when she heard a "thud'"from behind her Speaker's Chair.

"I looked to the left of the winged chair thinking someone had stumbled either in the press gallery or on the steps leading to the seats," she said.

"The next thing was I saw the door of the lobby open and a young man, I would suggest in his early twenties, running towards the speakers chair.

"I saw another young man enter by another door at the end of the chamber near the under gallery and a third gentleman who I thought had entered via the doors of the members lobby.

"Clearly it was quite unprecedented that anyone other than MPs or the door keepers would enter by these doors.

"I saw the young man walk around in the front of the speakers chair and stand in front of two ministers who were on the front bench, Alun Michael and Elliot Morley. They were shouting loudly and aggressively and standing in front of the ministers pointing with their fingers.

"At that point Sergeant At Arms and his staff of door keepers entered the chamber and immediately went to grapple with these young men. By this time I had suspended the sitting in the chamber."

Mr Scanlon said the first he knew of the protest was when he heard "A scream, a cry for help from inside the chamber". It was only when he later helped to remove the five protesters who made it to the floor of the House of Commons that he realised it had been a peaceful political protest.

He said he saw one of the protesters sitting in the seat normally occupied by Tony Blair. "I grabbed the person in the PM's chair and he said 'I'm here peacefully.' "There was utter confusion, chaos and panic. I told him 'You've got to move.' He said 'No I'm here to protest peacefully.' He took hold of the back of the seat and would not let go so I pulled him and we got into a fight. I was trying to restrain him but he was kicking out violently and struggling. We both fell to the floor in the middle of the chamber. Several MPs joined us on the floor of the House."

Earlier the court heard that Ferry, 22, was the " principal organiser of the protesters".

He led seven demonstrators, dressed as construction workers and bearing a Commons pass and a letter from MPs, undetected through the corridors of the Palace of Westminster. Five of them "stormed" the chamber in front of astonished MPs, causing the debate on the fox-hunting Bill to be suspended.

Fellow protester Robert Thame, 35, a polo player, had followed Ferry at "full-on charge" into the chamber.

Thame said he sat next to Rural Affairs Minister Alun Michael and told him: "Right ho, let's have a debate now, let's ask some questions and get some home truths." A "gentle old boy" had then tried to grab Thame who said he let him "slowly drag me out".

After his arrest John Holliday, 37, said he had entered the chamber and "I faced the Labour benches and said to Alun Michael he was a disgrace to democracy, I saw Elliott Morley and told him the same thing.

"Morley is an excuse of a man. I told Michael he was a liar. He has personally lied to me so I know it is true."

The other defendants are Luke Tomlinson, 27, who has permission to miss court on Wednesday to play polo for England, David Redvers, 34, Richard Wakeham, 36, Nicholas Wood, 41, and Andrew Elliott, 42.